News

UMD remains ‘very important’ says Sony

Please, please, please keep buying them

UMD remains ‘very important’ says Sony
|
PSP

In John Koller’s recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, he was remarkably candid about how Sony needs to address the shortcomings it’s demonstrated with the PSP over the last, what? Eighteen months, two years?

But despite painting a digital future for the PSP, Koller was very careful to remain fully on side with the physical UMD media.

“We look to the tangible disc as continuing to be very important,” he explains. “I think there's certainly a consumer out there who values tangibility. We say that a lot in our research.”

Hmm, strange choice of words. Perhaps he’s suggesting that Sony ‘says’ people love the UMD, in the same way Sony ‘says’ millions of people are buying the PS3 (when its data is based on the number of PS3s shipped to retailers, rather than actual units in people’s front rooms).

The reaction to the increased activity in the PSP’s online store and revelation that Patapon 2 is being sold purely as a digital download in the US has been very positive, while the UMD is rumoured to be excluded from future hardware.

Give us your opinion on whether - despite the PSP apparently getting a second wind - the UMD format is worth sustaining, or just another extra cost on the PSP’s already pricey software.

Joystiq
Spanner Spencer
Spanner Spencer
Yes. Spanner's his real name, and he's already heard that joke you just thought of. Although Spanner's not very good, he's quite fast, and that seems to be enough to keep him in a regular supply of free games and away from the depressing world of real work.